American Tesla recalls up to 2.2 million electric cars, including the Cybertruck pickup trucks released this year, due to incorrect font size of warning messages on the dashboard, according to a report on the website of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The font of the messages is too small, which can make it difficult to read critical information and thus increase the likelihood of an accident, the document said.
The recall is being conducted through a free remote software update and affects some of the 2012-2023 Model S, Model X (2016-2024), Model 3 (2017-2023), Model Y (2019-2024) and Cybertruck (2024) vehicles.
Tesla delivered 1.8 million electric vehicles worldwide in 2023.
Shares of the automaker are down 0.8% in pre-market trading on Friday.
Tesla has risen by two lines in the list of the most expensive car brands in the world and topped it for the first time, overtaking Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, according to Brand Finance.
Tesla’s brand value is now valued at $66.2 billion, up 44 percent in one year and five times since pre-demonstration times.
“This increase in brand valuation is a positive signal for Tesla because it indicates better brand awareness, which could lead to higher sales and revenue in the future,” said Alex Hay, director of valuation at Brand Finance.
Toyota dropped to third place, losing 18% of its value ($52.5 billion), while Mercedes-Benz remained in second place (minus 3%, $58.8 billion).
The record jump in value in the sector was demonstrated by the Chinese automobile brand Sokon – by 123% over the year to $739 million.
The analysts of Brand Finance called Ferrari NV the strongest automobile brand having given to it the maximum rating “AAA+”. When evaluating brand strength, the company considers a host of other indicators besides value, including investment in marketing, operating results, and relationships with stakeholders (from employees, suppliers and shareholders to government agencies and community organizations).
The value of the Ferrari brand fell 8 percent over the year, mainly due to the depreciation of the euro against the dollar, to $7.4 billion. In euros, the figure rose 3 percent.
Among auto parts manufacturers, the most expensive brand was once again Japanese Denso, which rose in value over the year by 6%, to $4.5 billion. In the segment of tire manufacturers the French Michelin remained the leader (+2%, to $7.9 billion).
Head of Tesla Inc. Elon Musk, in addition to Starlink satellite Internet stations, donated Tesla Powerwall solar panels to Ukraine.
“Today, two outpatient clinics in Borodianka and Irpin have received Tesla Powerwall solar panels and energy saving systems,” Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov said on Telegram.
According to him, these solar panels and generators have become very popular in America.
“The Powerwall energy system has high autonomy and provides backup power in case of power outages. This ultra-modern equipment will help Ukrainians in the areas most affected by the Russian occupation,” Fedorov stressed.
Primary registrations of electric vehicles in Ukraine (new and used) in April 2021 grew by 6% compared to March of this year, to 699 units, while in April last year, due to the nationwide strict quarantine, only 38 electric cars were registered, according to the Ukrautoprom association. According to a posting on its website on Tuesday, the share of new electric cars of total registrations accounted for 9% (64 units).
The bulk of the electric vehicles registered in April were passenger cars – 666 units, including 62 new and 604 used.
The most popular electric car was Nissan Leaf with 198 registrations, the second result was for TESLA Model 3 (77 registrations), the third for the Chevrolet Bolt (67 cars).
The fourth most popular electric car was TESLA Model S with 38 registrations, and the top five of the April market for electric cars is closed by Audi E-Tron with 37 registered cars.
According to the association, out of 33 commercial electric vehicles registered in April, 29 units were Renault Kangoo Z.E.
Taking into account the April data, in January-April of this year, 2,400 electric vehicles were registered for the first time in Ukraine, which is 37% more than in the same period in 2020. The share of used vehicles was 90%.
At the same time, registrations of used vehicles grew by 36%, to 2,161 units, new ones – by 46%, to 232 units.
The Tesla Supercharger chain of Tesla Inc. would spread to the entire Europe in 2019, including Ukraine, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said.
“Most people don’t know that the Tesla Supercharger network allows easy long distance travel throughout USA, most of Europe, Canada and China… Yes. Supercharger coverage will extend to 100% of Europe next year. From Ireland to Kyiv, from Norway to Turkey,” he wrote in his Twitter microblog.
In one of his tweets he posted a link to the tesla.com website, where in the charging locations section two of the charging locations in Ukraine are marked in grey (soon to appear). The two locations are on the E40 highway. The first one is Oparypsy (a village in Rivne region) and the second one is Zhytomyr (near the village of Hlybochytsia, Zhytomyr region).
The Tesla Superchargers chain is a chain of charging locations built by Tesla Inc. for super charging batteries of Tesla electric cars (models S, 3 and X).
CHAIN, MUSK, SPREAD, SUPERCHARGER, TESLA
The Ministry of Infrastructure plans to persuade Elon Musk’s Tesla to create a Gigafactory for production of storage batteries in Ukraine.
“We believe that we will be able to convince Tesla, the world’s largest manufacturer of electric cars, to create its Gigafactory for production of storage batteries in Ukraine,” Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan said when presenting the Ukrainian Transport Strategy until 2030.
In his opinion, Ukraine’s integration into the world economy and a technological leap in the sphere of infrastructure are possible only by attracting the world companies to the country.
According to Omelyan, such companies as Hutchison Ports, DP World, General Electric, Bombardier, Tesla and Ryanair should remain in Ukraine.
Earlier the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation in the work on the Hyperloop project.
